Hitler's anti-semitic obsession was fuelled by the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a hugely successful forgery containing the master-plan of an alleged Jewish conspiracy to control the world.

In a fascinating work of literary and historical detection, Norman Cohn unravels the origins of the Protocols. Tracing its roots in anti-semitic mythology, Cohn pinpoints the collaboration of hack writers and secret policemen in concocting a book that, published around the world, was once second only to the Bible in its circulation.

Even before Hitler came to power, the Protocols were one of the cornerstones of Nazi propaganda and, once the Second World War started, became the principal 'justification' for the attempted extermination of European Jewry.

Despite being completely discredited, the Protocols are still widely read, and Warrant for Genocide remains the key text for anyone wishing to understand one of the most pernicious and enduring myths of our time.

'A scholarly account of a moral enormity.'
The Guardian

'One of the greatest of all modern historians.'
Isiah Berlin

'Powerful and important ... There have been previous histories of the Protocols and the mythologies of modern anti-semitism, but this is the most lucid and ironic.'
George Steiner

'It is impossible to understand twentieth-century politics unless Cohn's insights into the religious origins of totalitarian movements have been fully absorbed.'
John Gray